Czechoslovakia was at the heart of central Europe. Bohemia
and Moravia (the Czech lands) were part of the Habsburg Austrian
Empire; Slovakia was ruled as part of the Hungarian kingdom within
the Habsburg Empire.

The Czechs are a western Slav people who entered Europe in
the migration of Slav peoples from the area of modern Ukraine.
They were converted to the Roman faith as were the Poles and
Slovenes and use a modified Roman alphabet. They formed the kingdom
of Bohemia centered on Praha (Prague). An early king was the
famous Vaclav (pr. Vaslaf) or Wenceslas. This became part of
the Habsburg domains in 1526 following the collapse of the Protestant
revolution there. This had been linked with England when John
Hus its leader was influenced by the English John Wyclif. Later,
in 1619 Frederick the Elector (archduke) of the Rhineland Palatinate
became king of Bohemia. He was married to Elizabeth, the daughter
of King James of England and Scotland, perhaps hoping for help
from James. But he was defeated by the Catholic forces as the
Thirty Years War began. From then Bohemia had no independence
until 1919.

The Slovaks are a similar western Slav people who had never
had their own state until the formation of Czechoslovakia. Until
then their rulers had been Magyars and their land was part of
the Kingdom of Hungary.

In 1918 with the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy the ancient kingdom of Bohemia
was joined to Slovakia to create a democratic republic - the
only democracy in eastern Europe in the inter-war period.

The Czechs are mostly Protestant and had been ruled by the
Germans, while the Slovaks are mostly Catholic and had been ruled
by the Hungarians.

From 1968 the country was a federation of the two, each of
which had its own state. Until 1945 there was a large German
minority - the Sudeten Germans -in Bohemia. They had been among
the most enthusiastic of Nazis (it has been shown that the ideas
of Nazism were first developed among the Sudeten Germans in the
late 19th century. They had some similarities with the whites
of Mississippi in their attitudes to non-Germans - Czechs and
Jews.) They were expelled as a result of the second world war
which they had helped provoke (perhaps this is an example of
ethnic cleansing
but President Havel has expressed his regret at this action,
arguing courageously that the previous abuses of human rights
by the Nazis did not justify another abuse).

Czechoslovakia was the first non-German conquest of Hitler.
In 1938 he demanded that the Sudetenland be ceded to Germany
because of its German-speaking population. But the area also
contained the Czechs' main military defenses. The French and
British agreed to allow the transfer, despite their alliance
with Czechoslovakia. This was the "appeasement" of
Neville Chamberlain, who may have believed that Hitler was stronger
than he actually was, and that anyway Britain was not ready to
fight yet. Documents published after the war show that Hitler
would have backed down had he been resisted, as his army was
not ready for war. The Czechs regard this handover as a dishonorable
betrayal by Britain and France.

Hitler showed his real intentions when he invaded the rest
of the country the following year. From 1939 until 1945 Bohemia
was a German protectorate
and Slovakia a puppet state under a Fascist government. Praha (Prague) had
been one of the most important centers of Jewish culture and
education. Almost all the Jews were sent to Auschwitz and few
remain.

The Russians and Americans liberated the Czechs from the Germans
but then the Russians helped install a Communist government in
1948 despite a promise (at the Potsdam Conference) to allow free
elections. The Communists had been a large minority in the 1948
parliament but were given the key ministries of the Interior
and Defense. From these they launched a coup which resulted in non-Communists being
forbidden to organize. The non-Communist president Benes was
killed when he was thrown out of the window of the Castle (one
of the several "defenestrations" in Czech history).
It was this action that inaugurated the Cold War as western leaders realized that
Stalin had no intention of allowing free elections in the states
occupied by the Red Army.

There followed a period of Stalinist rule - secret police, show trials
and terror. This lasted until 1968 when a reforming Communist,
Alexander Dubcek, came to power and tried to democratize Communism
under the slogan "Socialism with a Human Face" (a forerunner
of Perestroika
and Glasnost). This was one of the most exciting events of 1968
as it made many people in both west and east believe that Communism
could be reformed. His success brought in Russian tanks to restore
a conventional Stalinist regime which lasted until 1989. This
was one of the great tragedies of 1968.

From 1968 until 1989 the country was ruled by Gustav Husak
who, although he had been an associate of Dubcek, was willing
to accept Russian domination. He presided over a regime which
prevented all free cultural activity and enforced total conformity
on public expression. Writers and philosophers were locked up
or forced to work in manual jobs. He followed orders from the
Kremlin. In 1989 he was replaced briefly by Milos Jakes, a similar
person (one of the Gray Men or Nomenklatura ).

In 1989 after the East German communist regime had begun to
come to an end with the deposition of Erich Honecker, crowds
of Czechs appeared on the streets of Praha and the government
fell, to be replaced by a democratic regime. This is sometimes
known as the "Velvet Revolution" because no-one was
killed. (It has been suggested that the security services, perhaps
instigated by the Soviet KGB, had plotted to change the Husak
government for a liberal communist regime, but failed to find
anyone to occupy the positions). The chief dissident, playwright
Vaclav Havel was elected president by the still communist parliament
and Husak resigned. Dubcek who had been forced to work as a forester
was elected Speaker of the parliament (he died in November 1992).

Following elections in June 1992 there were discussions about
breaking the federation. Some Slovaks wanted independence. There
were also questions about the status of some minorities including
Hungarians in Slovakia. In so far as the discussion took place
in terms of 19th century nationalism it showed the dangers of
trying to create states determined by linguistic identity - when
there are many mixed areas (see Yugoslavia
). Both states were admitted to the EU in 2004. It joined
the Schengen zone in January
2008.

Languages

Czech and Slovak are two western Slav languages, mutually
intelligible.

During the Communist period the country had a Communist government
largely controlled by the Soviet Union, backed up by Soviet forces
stationed in the country. This was essentially a colonial regime.

On the collapse of the Soviet Bloc this system came to an
end when huge demonstrations in the streets brought about a peaceful
hand over of power to non-Communists.

The Czech Republic now has a non-communist system with governments
whose policy was to move towards a market economy and membership
of the European Union.

The Czech party Civic Forum split into two or more conventional
parties: a right and a left wing party. Elections were called
in 1992 and the country evolved towards normal democratic politics.

The first political problem after the end of Communism was
that the people put in power during the communist system - the
Nomenklatura - are still there. Some of them have become owners
of the privatized businesses, others run the ministries. Former
members of the secret police can be found in many positions.
Is it possible to have a "normal" democracy when an
unknown proportion of the population served willingly or unwillingly
a dictatorship? Can people trust each other? The second problem
was the desire of many Slovaks to form their own state.

It was agreed to split the state at the end of 1992, although
opinion polls showed that a majority in both Slovakia and the
Czech Lands did not want the split. This tends to discredit democracy
as the politicians do not represent the real wishes of the people.

It has been suggested that the real cause is that Vaclav Klaus,
the extreme free
market Prime Minister of the Czech republic, preferred to
dump the Slovaks who are reluctant to privatize their industry
(because most of it would not survive). The Slovaks may well
suffer without the Czechs. Klaus may have calculated that the
Czechs will do better without them. This could turn out to be
a dangerous calculation.

Does Klaus have dictatorial tendencies? Probably only in the
Thatcher style. He was voted out in December 1997.

A Social Democrat government took office in July 1998.

Despite the state being admitted to the European Union, there
are strongly Eurosceptic parties, at present in opposition but
in alliance with the British Conservative MEPs in the European
Parliament. They are also anti-homosexual.

Czechoslovakia inherited much of the industry of the Habsburg
Empire. It now has an economy created by the communists to the
command system in imitation of the Soviet system. Its problem
now is to convert to a market economy without social disturbance
- unemployment and inflation.

Almost all industries showed signs of lack of investment in
modern equipment, especially in energy saving, because the communist
regime received cheap energy from the Soviet Union, whereas the
new regime must now pay world prices.

Czechoslovakia supplied much of the Soviet Bloc and its overseas
allies with weapons - including tanks (from Slovakia). The present
government at first wanted to get out of this business but found
it difficult to convert the factories and has kept them open.
They also supplied streetcars and rail equipment to much of the
Soviet bloc but the former Soviet states cannot find the dollars
to pay for them. They used to pay with Soviet oil, in barter
arrangements. The result is economic collapse in the former heavy
industrial areas of a kind which has occurred, but more slowly,
in northern England, Pennsylvania and many other parts of the
world.

The process of privatization may be occurring too fast but
so far has not resulted in unemployment.

The Czech government has been advised by the followers of
Mrs. Thatcher whose enthusiasm is not tempered by the need to
live with the results.

In the medium term future the Czech economy seems likely to
become a branch of the German. As Germany is entering recession
and is investing heavily in east Germany there may not be much
left over for the Czechs. The split of the countries seems likely
to make both units weak (but possibly the Czech prime minister
hoped that the Czech republic would not be held back by Slovakian
problems).

In 1994 unemployment was reported to be low, which suggests
the policy hads been a success so far.

There is very serious pollution of air, water and land in
the districts of heavy industry from burning lignite producing
large quantities of sulfur dioxide, and from other industries
which have no pollution controls. This country shares the problem
with Poland and former east Germany with huge areas of dying
forests and poisoned soil and water.